Men's Issues

Charmaine McEachern. Published in Continuum: the Australian Journal
of Media and Culture 7(2) 1994."The deepening academic debates about
the construction of masculinity in the eighties and nineties (For example Brod; Carrigan,
Connell, and Lee; Clatterbaugh; Connell; Hearn; Kaufman; Pleck) have been accompanied by a
similar concern in popular culture. In turn, this public contestation and negotiation over
masculinity has fed into academic discourses and debates. In Australia this double
movement has been dominated by popular culture products from abroad."

Published in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies
1(2) September 1996:139-46, by Marj Kibby. "In the films of the eighties
the figure of the cyborg combines violence and loss of self in an hysterical response to
the impact of technological development and rapid social change on masculinity and
patriarchy. Many of the popular films of the eighties reflect a nervousness in the face of
advanced technology, depicting a contested space between the humun and the technological.
An anxiety about the nature of masculinity within a technological environment combines
with the fears of a patriarchy in decline in film narratives that play out the
reconciliation of hegemonic masculinity and the restoration of patriarchal
capitalism."

"Feminists have long complained that ..." and Fred has all
the answers from a male's point of view. Take this test to determine how gender biased you
are. Also, realize that this is not a scientific study!

"This site was created for a graduate seminar in American
Studies, Masculinity in American culture, which was taught during fall,
1995. It dealt with various representations and articulations of masculinity
in American culture. It will be maintained as a site focusing on the
academic study of masculinity and American male cultures."

"In its study of
masculinity and sports media, the research group Children Now found that
most commercials directed to male viewers tend to air during sports
programming. Women rarely appear in these commercials, and when they do,
they’re generally portrayed in stereotypical ways."

Home page of the MNC (Men's Network for Change), Canada's only
coast-to-coast pro-feminist, gay affirmative, anti-racist, male positive network. MNC is
committed to working against sexism and patriarchy in Canadian society. "Men
working in a great variety of ways against sexism, patriarchy and homophobia, and are
opposed to the many forms of violence in our world."

A thesis article by Dabid Schwindton masculinity in television
commercials."The focus in this study is the media portrayal of male
characters and the effects of such portrayals on the development of male children. The
existing literature on television and gender has to date largely focused on the impact of
media sexism on female development (Signorielli, 1993). Overlooked in these studies is the
construction of masculinity found on television, and its possible influence on the gender
role development of male children (Craig, 1992). A focus on media portrayals of
masculinity in television commercials and the possible impact of such portrayals on the
gender role development of young boys would seem to be relevant to efforts to identify and
encourage the development of more flexible, and egalitarian gender roles both amongst
children and in later adulthood."

David R. T. Throop is responding to this question: "I am afraid
that I am new to men's issues and have no idea what these folks are talking about when
they talk about men's issues. Is there anyone out there that can help?" In reading
the answer(s) it's good to keep in mind that there isn't a single men's movement today.
In the US, there are at least five, and they don't all talk to each other. Let me tell you
about them, and the issues they focus on"